A new study has raised concerns over Maharashtra’s changing climate, finding that compound drought and heatwave events are becoming more frequent and severe including during the monsoon season.
Published in the International Journal of Climatology, the study analysed district level data from 1960 to 2025 and identified 1990 as a major turning point. Since then, Maharashtra has witnessed a significant increase in both the frequency and intensity of compound drought and heatwave (CDHW) events.
The findings suggest that these extreme events are no longer largely restricted to the pre-monsoon summer months. The monsoon season has emerged as the period showing the strongest intensification, with several parts of the state now experiencing frequent combinations of rainfall deficits and unusually high temperatures.
Before 1990, CDHW events during the pre-monsoon period were relatively limited and concentrated mainly in eastern districts. Since 1990, however, their occurrence has increased across much of the state.
Western and coastal districts including Nashik, Thane, Raigad and Sindhudurg have seen a notable increase in the severity of these events. Researchers link this westward intensification partly to the warming Arabian Sea, which is altering coastal heat and moisture patterns.
Nashik, Yavatmal, Amravati and Jalgaon have emerged as important hotspots for recurring compound climate stress. Some of these districts have joint return periods of less than eight months, indicating that such events can occur with increasing regularity.
The monsoon season presents the most concerning trend. The study found that areas across Maharashtra that previously experienced moderate levels of compound events are now recording substantially higher frequencies. Raigad and Thane, for example, have recorded more than 35 events in the post-1990 period.
Extreme CDHW events during the monsoon, which were previously uncommon, have also increased in districts such as Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani and Gondia, where more than nine such events have been recorded.
Researchers point out that the state is not necessarily experiencing longer droughts. Instead, it is being exposed to repeated and intense episodes of combined heat and moisture stress.
Rising temperatures can worsen drought conditions even when the monsoon is active. Higher temperatures increase evaporation and dry out soils while dry soils can further raise surface temperatures, creating a feedback cycle that intensifies heat and dryness.
Vikas Poonia, assistant professor and head of the Hydro climatology Lab at Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, said climate extremes are increasingly overlapping rather than occurring separately. Such compound events can have greater consequences for agriculture, water availability and ecosystems than isolated droughts or heatwaves.
The findings challenge the traditional understanding of drought as being caused primarily by inadequate rainfall. In Maharashtra, increasing temperatures themselves are becoming an important factor capable of triggering and intensifying drought-like conditions, even during the monsoon.
Researchers say the changing pattern highlights the need to redesign climate adaptation measures in the state. District specific Heat Action Plans drought preparedness strategies, water management measures and agricultural planning could help communities prepare for increasingly frequent compound climate extremes.